The tablet of the Ten Commandments that is up for auction.
An ancient stone tablet with a Hebrew version of the biblical Ten Commandments will be auctioned by Sotheby’s in New York on December 18.
The auction house describes the artifact as the oldest known stone version of the Ten Commandments, com about 1,500 years. Weighing 52 kilograms and about 60 centimeters high, the tablet has twenty lines of Paleo-Hebrew text, a script that stopped being used centuries ago.
The text is largely aligned with biblical verses familiar to Jewish and Christian traditions, but one variation includes a commandment specific to Samaritan practices, instructing prayer at Mount Gerizim, a sacred site for the Samaritan community.
Sotheby’s specialist Sharon Liberman Mintz highlighted its historical significance, calling it the oldest known example of such a tablet. According to Sotheby’s, the object represents a connection to the moral codes that shaped Western civilization and remains relevant to Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
The tablet’s trajectory throughout history is also surprising. According to , it was discovered in 1913 during the construction of a railway line along the southern coast of what is now Israel.
Initially, its significance was not recognized and served as paving stone for three decades, exposed to pedestrian traffic. In 1943, a scholar identified the importance of the tablet, acquiring it and confirming its status as a Samaritan artifact. Its whereabouts after this acquisition are not entirely clear, and the identity of its current owner has not been revealed.
Experts believe that the stone originally belonged to a synagogue destroyed during one of two possible historical periods: the Roman invasions between 400 and 600 AD or the Crusades in the 11th century.
The board is expected to be sold at auction for a price between one and two million dollars. Before the sale, it will be shown to the public from December 5th.
